Will allies like Japan or South Korea feel that the U.S. has reasserted its old global clout, or further worry that their patron might engage in secret talks with, say, China rather than reemphasize their security under the traditional U.S. umbrella?

Senior U.S. administration officials held secret talks in North Korea on at least three occasions in 2011 and 2012, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

Although the visits had potential implications for Japan, Washington did not inform its security partner at the time and only informally confirmed one of them when the Japanese side pressed, government and other sources in Japan, South Korea and the United States said.

So what did Obama do when Japan said, “WTF dude?”

The U.S. State Department even warned the Foreign Ministry against making further inquiries, saying they would harm bilateral relations, the sources said.

That’s diplospeak for “STFU”.

So yeah, I imagine SoKo, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines are all pretty sure Obama will sell them out and they’re on their own when China gets frisky just as Poland (Obama canceled Poland’s missile shield deal on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion (not Nazi) at the beginning of WWII) and the rest of eastern Europe know they’re on their own when Tsar Putin I gets frisky.